Department for Education

Children: Social Services

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the briefing The Cost of Delaying Reform to Children’s Social Care, published in May,which summarised analysis commissioned by the children charities Action for Children, Barnardo’s, the Children’s Society, the NSPCC, and the National Children’s Bureau.

Baroness Barran: There needs to be a fundamental shift away from crisis intervention and towards earlier intervention, and the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ Implementation Strategy and Consultation sets out how the department intend to achieve that. The consultation can be found attached. These are complex reforms, with complicated systemic interactions, and it is critical that we take a test and learn approach and make sure we have models that can be rolled out effectively.Alongside the Implementation Strategy, the department has announced we are investing £200 million by 2024/25 to address urgent issues facing children and families, to lay the foundations for whole system reform and set national direction for change. This is on top of the £142 million invested by 2024/25 to take forward reforms to unregulated provision in children’s social care, the £160 million as announced in March 2022 to deliver our Adoption Strategy over the next three years, the £259 million to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes over the Spending Review 21 period, and the £230 million over the same period to support young people leaving care.This is all in addition to the £3.85 billion social care grant that the government is providing to local authorities for adults and children’s social care this year.After two years, the department will refresh the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy, and seek to scale up the new approaches we have tested and developed, including bringing forward new legislation where necessary (subject to parliamentary time).​HL8240_pdf (pdf, 1604.6KB)

Natural History: GCSE

Lord Lucas: To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to sign off the proposed Natural History GCSE.

Baroness Barran: The department announced the introduction of a new natural history GCSE last year. We are committed to developing the GCSE as quickly as possible, provided that it meets the rigorous requirements that apply to all GCSEs. The department is working closely with OCR and other exam boards, and independent experts to develop draft subject content for the GCSE.The department aims to consult publicly on the draft subject content later this year. Any amendments to subject content will then be made in light of responses to the public consultation.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Economic Situation

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to carry out a statistical analysis of the economic contribution of football clubs to the UK economy.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Football clubs make a significant contribution to the UK economy and the communities in which they operate. Ernst & Young have estimated that the Premier League contributed £7.6 billion to the UK economy in the 2019/20 season.As well as being economic powerhouses, football clubs are also important local assets which deliver significant benefits to the communities of which they are a key part. Impact analysis conducted by the English Football League indicates that clubs and their Club Community Organisations created over £865 million of social value across England and Wales in the 2021/22 season.

Music Venues: Finance

Lord Watts: To ask His Majesty's Government how they will address the uneven funding between (1) contemporary music, and (2) opera or classical music, to ensure that grassroots music venues are well supported.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector, and are key to developing the future talent pipeline.That is why we are supporting them to develop the next generation of British talent, by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging and more diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.This is in addition to other government support provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.Contemporary, operatic, and classical music subsectors receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including Arts Council England. Decisions made by the Arts Council about the allocation of funding are taken at arm's length from Government. Decisions are made in line with the Council’s ten-year strategy, which sets the direction for all of the artforms and sub-sectors it supports, including opera, contemporary, and classical music.

Music Venues: Finance

Lord Watts: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to ensure financial support is provided for grassroots music, such as a ticket levy on large arenas and stadiums.

Lord Watts: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to improve funding opportunities for grassroots music venues to prevent them from closing down.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector, and are key to developing the future talent pipeline.That is why we will support them to develop the next generation of British talent by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging and more diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues of all sizes across the country. The department works closely with interested parties and across Government to ensure the live music sector continues to thrive.HM Government has provided significant support to the live music sector. This includes more than £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through the Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund via Arts Council England since 2019.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Poverty

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of people whowould no longer be in poverty if the benefit cap were (1) abolished, and (2) returned to its original levels.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the effect of the impact of the removal of the benefit cap on the number of people in poverty. The benefit cap continues to provide a strong work incentive and fairness for hardworking taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable.

Social Security Benefits

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the advice provided to them as part of the statutory review of benefit cap levels.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Under S96A of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, the Secretary of State is required to undertake a review of the benefit cap levels at least once every five years. There is no statutory requirement to publish any advice given to inform that review; and as such there are no plans to do so. This has been the policy under this and previous Governments.

Social Security Benefits

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government, whether they intend to abolish the benefit cap following their research which found that only five per cent of affected households moved into work as a result of it.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The benefit cap continues to provide a work incentive and fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. The Government firmly believes that where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households and the benefit cap provides a clear incentive to move into work. The lower benefit cap had a positive impact with an additional 5.1% of households moving into employment as a result of it. An additional 2.6% of households left the cap as a result of their benefit entitlements being updated to include an exempting benefit and an additional 1.8% of households left the cap by moving property, at Census Output Area (COA) level, to reduce their rental costs.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government, furtherthe Written Answer byBaroness Neville-Rolfeon 13 April (HL7017), what surveillance the UK Health Security Agency is currently undertaking in line with their Living with COVID-19 plan published in February 2022, given that the ONS has no plans to test and report on respiratory infections.

Lord Markham: The Government is committed to maintaining robust COVID-19 surveillance activities across primary and secondary care, as well as in high-risk settings. This will be underpinned by the continuation of genomic sequencing to detect and assess severity and vaccine effectiveness against new variants.The approach to COVID-19 surveillance is being actively reviewed to ensure it is proportionate, cost effective and considered alongside how the Government monitors a range of other respiratory diseases. The UK Health Security Agency will continue to publish regular reports on COVID-19 which will contribute to our situational awareness; these include our weekly surveillance reports, which provide data on infection rates and hospitalisation numbers.

Fractures: Health Services

Baroness Bull: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider universal access to a high-quality Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) to be the best form of secondary fracture prevention; and if so,whether they will ensure that universal access to FLS is provided under the forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy.

Lord Markham: The Government recognises the value of quality assured secondary fracture prevention services, including fracture liaison services. NHS England is working with commissioners to support the mobilisation and implementation of Fracture Liaison Services in each area and establish a greater number of clinics. This includes NHS England’s Getting it Right First-Time programme, which has a specific workstream on musculoskeletal health, and through exploring how best to support integrated care systems in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.The forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy will set out a clear vision for musculoskeletal conditions, covering treatment and prevention, alongside other major conditions.

Radiology: Vacancies

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the finding by the Royal College of Radiologists on 8 June that there are "chronic staff shortages" in the NHS, when they will publish the NHS workforce strategy.

Lord Markham: The Government has committed to publishing the long term workforce plan shortly.

Coronavirus: Drugs

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the approval and rollout of AZD-3152 for preventing COVID-19, in particular (1) for vulnerable patients and (2) in light of the previous process for Evusheld.

Lord Markham: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE is responsible for the processes it uses in developing its recommendations.New medicines for COVID-19 that are referred to NICE will be evaluated through NICE’s technology appraisal process. NICE aims to publish guidance within 90 days of marketing authorisation being issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency wherever possible and works with stakeholders to align its appraisal timelines with the regulatory process.NICE is developing a new review process to update its recommendations on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments so they can be made available more quickly to patients, provided they show promise against new variants and are found to be cost-effective. NICE recently ran a four-week public consultation on proposals for the new rapid update process, which will apply to recommendations NICE has already published on COVID-19 treatments.

Ministry of Justice

Marriage: Women

Baroness Cox: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the Law Commission’s report Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, published on 18 July 2022 (HC 557); and what plans they have to introduce further legislation to safeguard women who are in unregistered marriages.

Lord Bellamy: We are carefully considering the Law Commission’s recommendations on weddings reform. As part of its review, the Law Commission has considered ways of ensuring that fewer weddings conducted according to religious rites result in a marriage that the law does not recognise. We will respond to the Law Commission’s report in due course.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Sudan: Tuberculosis

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the surge in tuberculosis cases in Sudan; and what steps they are taking to provide medical aid to that country.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The FCDO is tracking the risk of a rise in tuberculosis cases in Sudan, resulting from increased displacement of people and the lack of access now to treatment facilities following the outbreak of conflict on 15 April. The UK remains one of the top global donors to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is continuing its work to support people in Sudan, although access in the current circumstances is extremely difficult. The FCDO is using our full diplomatic reach to secure humanitarian access and end the violence. We are in regular contact with the Global Fund and are coordinating with the international humanitarian system to support them and other partners to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan, including of medical supplies, if and when the access situation improves.

Tigray: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will match the grant recently made by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church for relief and reconstruction in the war-damaged province of Tigray.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Since the war in Tigray broke out in 2019, the UK has allocated more than £400 million in humanitarian support to Ethiopia. In May 2023 the UK co-chaired a pledging event for the Horn of Africa that raised around £1.9 billion for nearly 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. £42 million of this is additional support the UK has pledged for Ethiopia, which will be allocated according to need through trusted partners.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Logistics: Charging Points

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 23 May (HL8071), when they willpublish a plan for reducing energy connection timescales for logistics sites.

Lord Callanan: The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to release network capacity and improve the connections process, which will reduce connection timescales for all types of connections, including logistics sites. Building on this work, the Government and Ofgem will publish a connections action plan in the summer.

Logistics: Charging Points

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 23 May (HL8071), what assessment they have made ofthe impact of the planning system on the introduction of depot charging facilities at logistics sites.

Lord Callanan: The Government committed to the publication of a Call for Evidence in the Future of Freight Strategy to better understand the role the planning system has in supporting the needs of the freight and logistics industry. This document is due for publication in the coming weeks and welcomes representations from all stakeholders to provide evidence to enable the Government to fully consider how depot charging facilities at logistics sites can be delivered in the most expeditious way.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Horticulture: Peat

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what exemptions will there be to the general ban on the sale ofpeatand peat-containing products in the retailhorticultural sector from 2024.

Lord Benyon: In August last year Ministers announced that the Government in England would be banning the sale of peat for use in the amateur gardening sector by 2024. We intend to provide various exemptions for professional growers up to 2030, including those for mushroom growing and plug plants. Discussions with stakeholders on the detail of these exemptions are ongoing. The legislation implementing our proposals will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

Seas and Oceans: Plastics

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government whether there has been any increase in the volume of plasticand polystyrene pollution washed up on the UK’s beaches (1) in the last 12 months, and (2) over the last five years; and what steps they have taken, together with international partners, to mark World Ocean Day on 8 June, particularly with regard to tackling plastic waste in the world’s oceans.

Lord Benyon: The UK Government funds the Marine Conservation Society to record litter from sections of our coast which helps us monitor the levels and trends of plastic pollution. We monitor the current status of beach litter abundance over a three-year period for data reliability, so we cannot provide an accurate trend for the last 12 months. Over the last five years, the total litter count on British beaches has decreased by approximately 7 items / 100m per year. However, we know that plastic and polystyrene fragments are the most commonly found items, with an average of 45.5 pieces found on every 100m of coastline for the period 2020 – 2022. This data is used in combination with other monitoring data to measure the impact of our policies and inform our decisions about how to tackle marine litter. We have already banned microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, reduced the use of single-use carrier bags, and restricted the supply of plastic straws and plastic-stemmed cotton buds and banned the supply of plastic drink stirrers. From October 2023, we will ban the supply of certain types of polystyrene food and drink containers, single-use plastic cutlery, single-use plastic balloon sticks and ban the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls and trays to the end user, working towards our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. We are also playing our part internationally. One of four themes of our £500m Blue Planet Fund, launched in 2021 to support developing countries protect and enhance the marine environment and reduce poverty, is to tackle marine pollution and litter. Under this fund we're supporting countries to accelerate the transition towards more inclusive circular economies, working with the Global Plastic Action Partnership to establish diverse, multistakeholder platforms across the world, and we’ve supported over 500,000 young people worldwide to become leaders in the fight against plastic pollution through the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge. UK ODA funding has also supported several waste management projects including in Fiji where the local partner is working with private sector businesses on the only international standard landfill in the South Pacific. This aims to ensure 80% of waste is recycled and put back into the circular economy and includes development of a new sanitary landfill to improve waste collection and prevent harmful pollutants that are detrimental to Fijian mangroves and coral reefs entering these ecosystems. On World Ocean Day Defra hosted leaders from the private sector for a roundtable on investment strategies and opportunities for a thriving sustainable blue economy. It showcased the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) to investors, financial institutions, corporations and philanthropies as a commercially viable and scalable investment opportunity for the ocean, reefs, and climate-vulnerable communities. Since first contributing to the GFCR in 2021, the UK has maintained its position as the largest public donor with our total commitment now £33m from the UK’s Blue Planet Fund programme.

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the(1) construction, and (2) implementation, of infrastructure at Northern Ireland ports to comply with the provisions of the Windsor Framework.

Lord Benyon: Through the Windsor Framework, the UK Government has committed to construction of an additional, temporary, product inspection facility at Belfast Port to be in place by 1 October 2023. This will allow additional sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks, in advance of the permanent facilities being ready by 1 July 2025.Following successful planning approval for the additional, temporary, product inspection facility, construction in the form of site enabling works commenced on the 22 May 2023.The construction of the permanent facilities at Belfast, Larne, Warrenpoint and Foyle are expected to start from July 2023, with all facilities to be completed and designated by July 2025.

Water Supply

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for a national grid for water to ensure that those parts of England with sufficient water can supply water to areas that are water stressed.

Lord Benyon: The concept of a national grid for water has been assessed previously and has been discounted on the basis of cost and practicalities. Unlike gas and electricity, the infrastructure needed for a national grid is considerable as water is heavy, difficult and costly to move. It remains the case that often, local sources of water are better value economically and environmentally than moving water over long distances, which is carbon and energy intensive. However, there are many existing transfers of water linking parts of the country. For example, the Environment Agency operates a transfer of water from north of Cambridge to Essex to benefit farmers and water companies. Water companies such as United Utilities transfer water from the Lake District to Manchester keeping the city in water. Water companies must look closely at ways of sharing water across their existing networks and by building new links when they prepare their statutory water resource management plans (WRMPs). The current draft WRMPs and regional water resource plans consulted on earlier this year include further development of connections, incrementally building wider and more integrated networks, as well as some regional transfers of water, where these are best value options for customers, society and the environment.